117 replies to this topic

[assscat]

Sweet Fanny Addams said:

I can't wait to see the Tories AND Labour  getting their noses smeared in all the fucked up shit they created.

100/1 that'll be Nick Clegg's opening line in Thursday's Prime Ministerial debate.

[assscat]

Not that Brown was on course to win anyway, but…

http://bit.ly/aLRE92

Quote

Brown makes 'bigoted woman' jibe

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been caught on microphone describing a voter he had just spoken to in Rochdale as a "bigoted woman".

Sixty five-year-old Gillian Duffy had challenged Mr Brown on a number of issues including immigration and crime.

As he got into his car, he was still wearing a broadcast microphone and was heard to say "that was a disaster".

Mr Brown later apologised after the tape was played to him as he was interviewed on BBC Radio 2.

After listening to the recording, with his forehead resting on his hand, he said: "I do apologise if I've said anything that has been hurtful."

The comments were made after the conversation with Mrs Duffy which ended with him complimenting her and her family.

Off camera, but not realising he still had a Sky News microphone pinned to his shirt, he was head to tell an aide: "That was a disaster - they should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? It's just ridiculous..."

Asked what she had said, he is heard to reply: "Ugh everything! She's just a sort of bigoted woman that said she used to be Labour. I mean it's just ridiculous. I don't know why Sue brought her up towards me."

Mrs Duffy, a widow, said after hearing of Mr Brown's comments: "I'm very upset. He's an educated person. Why has he come out with words like that?

"He's supposed to be leading the country and he's calling an ordinary woman who's come up and asked questions that most people would ask him...It's going to be tax, tax, tax for another 20 years to get out of this national debt, and he's calling me a bigot."

She had earlier told reporters she was a lifelong Labour voter and described Mr Brown as being "very nice."

BBC News Channel chief political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said this was "the worst moment of the campaign so far" for the Labour Party. Their tactic of putting him in contact with more "ordinary people" had "gone quite horribly wrong".

Speaking on Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show, Mr Brown said: "Of course I apologise if I've said anything that's been offensive and I would never put myself in a position where I would want to say anything like that about a woman I'd met.

"I blame myself for what is done, but you've got to remember that this was me being helpful to the broadcasters, with my microphone on, rushing into the car because I had to get to another appointment and they have chosen to play my private conversation. These things can happen, I apologise profusely to the lady concerned."

Gordon Brown has since telephoned Mrs Duffy to personally apologise for the comments, telling her he was very sorry and said she "is a good woman".

When asked did this in any way make up for the comments she said "no - absolutely not".

A spokesman for the prime minister said: "Mr Brown has apologised to Mrs Duffy personally by phone. He does not think that she is bigoted. He was letting off steam in the car after a difficult conversation.

"But this is exactly the sort of conversation that is important in an election campaign and which he will continue to have with voters."

The Conservatives said Mr Brown's comments spoke for themselves.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne said: "That's the thing about general elections, they do reveal the truth about people."

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

It's unbelievable the gaffes both Labour and Tories are making on a daily basis on the run up to this election. It's almost like they WANT to lose. Which is fine by me. I only wish a monster raving loony was running where I live but alas. The MRLP would do a better job than Brown and Cameron. That leaves me with the Lib Dems.

[wagtail]

To highlight just how pathetic political journalism has become, the one thing that has been reported about the UK election over here is this supposed 'gaffe' by Gordon Brown.

The woman was talking about the UK being flooded with eastern european immigrants.  Racism = bigotry.  Why should a politician ignore that just to get a vote?  I'd send a vote his way just for calling a spade a spade, except he then went and met with her to apologise, what a moron.

and also, since the trivial and the superficial is where it's at these days - what's up with Tony Blair these days....blotchy fake tan, or very poor lighting...?:

Edited by wagtail, 30 April 2010 - 10:15 PM.

[Tortoise]

Yeah, I was wondering that about Tony Blair too. I'm not sure if he's wearing more make-up than ever, or if he's now sporting the no make-up look, which is why he looks so blotchy.:confused: He sure looks weird anyway.

As for the actual election, I'm as confused as anyone. This time I've tried really hard to listen and understand what all the parties stand for, but the more I hear the more the more confused I get! We're just not getting enough believable facts to let us decide. Even my 89 year-old very politically-savvy father-in-law hasn't made his mind up yet. And as a widower living alone he's devoted the past month reading, listening and thinking about it.

Yesterday on the radio I heard a retired professor admit that he's so frustrated by this lack of openess that he's made a decision to go into the voting booth and make his ballot paper void. He said he's wishing he'd thought earlier of launching a Facebook campaign to encourage everyone to do it and make the whole election null and void!

I'm voting Lib Dem, but I'm not convinced that I would if Nick Clegg wasn't so telegenic. :o

[unclejel]

wagtail said:

and also, since the trivial and the superficial is where it's at these days - what's up with Tony Blair these days....blotchy fake tan, or very poor lighting...?:

That's David Cameron in 15 years. Just not as left-wing as the Teflon-Mekon.

Lib-Dem's are my preference to take on the impossible task. I don't know why. It would be nice if a party could progress without blaming the previous regime for present-day foul ups. Nick Clegg's line seems to go along with 70+ years of misrule. Which is retrogression taken to an extreme. Despite this they would have the most forward-thinking policy.
I didn't believe Barack Obama had a hope of winning a majority. So hope is always there.

http://www.andybaref...p?poster=450931


http://www.andybaref...p?poster=450931

[Tortoise]

So it still seems that not everyone knows who Nick Clegg is--

From the BBC's Phil Herd on a train to Taunton with the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg -

Lots and lots of passengers recognise him and keep coming up for a chat with him or to get an autograph. The latest produced an hilarious exchange. A man introduced himself as a retired political science professor from the US. He said he thought Brown was not likable, he could never vote Tory, but liked the Lib Dems and their policies. Nick Clegg said: "Thank you very much, that's great." The man then asked the Lib Dem leader what he was going to do to, "help that Mr Clegg," at which he said, "er, but I am Mr Clegg!" The whole train carriage, including Miriam his wife, burst out laughing

[wagtail]

So, out of curiosity, what do you Brits think of David Milliband?

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

wagtail said:

So, out of curiosity, what do you Brits think of David Milliband?

I'm gonna have to google him to remember who he is. I know he's in govt, I'm just not sure where.
BRB.

ETA-- Okies, looked Miliband up. He's currently Labour's foreign secretary, but he hasn't made enough impact in that capacity for me to know that was the case. He seems anodyne for someone with such a high position (although Labour losing the election will mean he has only days left anyway. I am 200% sure Labour is gonna crash and burn on May 6.)
He's meh as far as I'm concerned. He's a supporter of green issues which I applaud, but apart from that he's done nothing memorable. On the other hand most Labour politicians who have done memorable things lately have all been tied up in fraud and politically prostituting themselves, so by default that's not an entirely negative thing. He's not a giant crook, which is alright but still damning him with faint praise, KWIM?
The whole "cyber-age" thing leaves me cold. He was the first cabinet minister to have a blog... so what? Big fucking deal.
He's had a hard row to hoe as Foreign Secretary, because he inherited both the Iraq war and Afghanistan and I can find no record of him voting in favor of either conflict. So, he's like a digestive biscuit. OK but nothing special. of course, this is only my personal view.

Edited by Sweet Fanny Addams, 01 May 2010 - 06:19 AM.

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

Tortoise said:

So it still seems that not everyone knows who Nick Clegg is--

From the BBC's Phil Herd on a train to Taunton with the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg -

Lots and lots of passengers recognise him and keep coming up for a chat with him or to get an autograph. The latest produced an hilarious exchange. A man introduced himself as a retired political science professor from the US. He said he thought Brown was not likable, he could never vote Tory, but liked the Lib Dems and their policies. Nick Clegg said: "Thank you very much, that's great." The man then asked the Lib Dem leader what he was going to do to, "help that Mr Clegg," at which he said, "er, but I am Mr Clegg!" The whole train carriage, including Miriam his wife, burst out laughing

Nick Clegg is often mistaken for David Cameron. Up close they don't look terribly alike but next to Gordon Brown, you can see why they might get mixed up. They are both young-ish and OK looking.

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

My bad, Miliband did vote for the Iraq war. He wasn't foreign secretary at the time but still.

Here is an official record of how he voted on Parliamentary matters:



David Miliband
Former Labour MP for South Shields

    * Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (since 13 Oct 2009) (note about dates)

    * Entered Parliament on 7 June 2001 — General election
    * Left Parliament on 12 April 2010 — General election (standing again)
    * Majority: 12,312 votes. — 38th out of 643 MPs.


    * Voting record
    * Most recent appearances
    * Numerology
    * Register of Members’ Interests
    * Expenses

Voting record (from PublicWhip)

How David Miliband voted on key issues since 2001:

    * Voted very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals. votes
    * Voted moderately for introducing a smoking ban. votes
    * Voted strongly for equal gay rights. votes
    * Voted very strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws. votes
    * Voted a mixture of for and against greater autonomy for schools. votes
    * Voted a mixture of for and against a transparent Parliament. votes
    * Voted very strongly for the hunting ban. votes
    * Voted moderately against laws to stop climate change. votes
    * Voted very strongly for the Iraq war. votes
    * Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war. votes
    * Voted strongly for introducing ID cards. votes
    * Voted for removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords. votes
    * Voted very strongly for a wholly elected House of Lords. votes
    * Voted strongly for allowing ministers to intervene in inquests. votes
    * Voted strongly for introducing student top-up fees. votes
    * Voted very strongly for replacing Trident. votes

Read about how the voting record is decided.

More on well-known issues (from the Guardian) & their full record

    * Hardly ever rebels against their party in this parliament.

[twistedkitemike]

wagtail said:

So, out of curiosity, what do you Brits think of David Milliband?

Sweet Fanny Addams said:

So, he's like a digestive biscuit. OK

He's a slimy little toad, biding his time for when Brown gets cast on the scrapheap and left to history to be judged as possibly the worst PM that this country has ever had. The architect of self-destruction as Chancellor, now finishing the job at No. 10.

Milliband is pure filth. He is a sycophant and will be looking to ease himself into leadership in a few week's time. At least, I hope so.

He comes with an odious brother in tow, just for good measure.

Digestive biscuit is good. As soon as it gets warm, he is likely to start melting.




M................x

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

twistedkitemike said:

He's a slimy little toad, biding his time for when Brown gets cast on the scrapheap and left to history to be judged as possibly the worst PM that this country has ever had. The architect of self-destruction as Chancellor, now finishing the job at No. 10.

Milliband is pure filth. He is a sycophant and will be looking to ease himself into leadership in a few week's time. At least, I hope so.

He comes with an odious brother in tow, just for good measure.

Digestive biscuit is good. As soon as it gets warm, he is likely to start melting.






M................x

So Mike.  Wanna dunk him in your cuppa? Melted Miliband. Mmmmmm.
ETA- How is he gonna ease himself into leadership when Labour will be drowning in the toilet? Or do you mean leadership of the toilet?

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

Just for you, Mike. I like how the red background intensifies his Tangoed tan. Looks like he could do with some some finger puppets there.

[assscat]

Yeah, Milliband has been very quiet during the election –*I only heard him on the radio for the first time over the campaign last week, and nothing since then. For a supposedly high-profile member of the cabinet, he's appearing keen to avoid associating himself with the so-far disastrous Labour election campaign.

Oh, and he's also a bigoted woman. Probably.

[Kelly A]

wagtail said:

To highlight just how pathetic political journalism has become, the one thing that has been reported about the UK election over here is this supposed 'gaffe' by Gordon Brown.

The woman was talking about the UK being flooded with eastern european immigrants.  Racism = bigotry.  Why should a politician ignore that just to get a vote?  I'd send a vote his way just for calling a spade a spade, except he then went and met with her to apologise, what a moron.

I guess he can't afford to lose the bigot vote.

[trix]

Does anyone have a link that has exactly what the woman said to Brown, or is part of the problem that no one actually knows?

[slinky1]

trix said:

Does anyone have a link that has exactly what the woman said to Brown, or is part of the problem that no one actually knows?

I thought I saw a video clip of her talking to him.  But I don't remember where.

[assscat]

One clip of their chat but not great sound:

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uX3KUCaQVf4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uX3KUCaQVf4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

I think what  really put the fiinal nail in Brown's box in was the overt display of different personas he puts on. One for the public in front of the camera, and another where he thinks he can't be heard. Now, I dislike and mistrust all politicians and am not naive enough to think that it's just Gordon Brown. They're all doing it.
What I personally can't stand is how he's saying he's going to fix everything without admitting his party fucked most of it up in the first place. He dribbles out slogans and bullshit promises and he's useless. Half of his Labour peers have attempted  several coups to get rid of him. Ugh, I despise them all, Labour, Tory the whole stinking lot.
The biggest news stories in the last 12 months about UK government were the ones that exposed corruption and blatant fraud, by the very people who are supposed to be governing the country. it makes me puke.